The Victorian ombudsman will independently investigate the state’s controversial public transport ticketing system, myki, saying 80% of complaints it receives from people about public transport are related to fare enforcement.
The myki system fully replaced the previous Metcard system from the end of 2012, despite complaints about myki card-reading machines being slow and unreliable.
Since then, commuters have complained about being fined for fare evasion, even though they had a valid ticket, because of card-reading machines failing to detect their card or because of faulty cards.
Others have complained there are not enough locations to top up credit on the reusable myki card, forcing them to ride trams, trains or buses without paying until they can find somewhere to top up.
But the most criticism has been reserved for on-the-spot fines for fare evasion. Passengers travelling without a valid myki can pay an on-the-spot penaltyof $75. If they fail to do so, they are issued with a $223 infringement notice.
Passengers have complained they feel compelled to pay the smaller fine, even if they believed they had been wrongfully fined and might have otherwise contested the penalty. Ticket inspectors have also been accused by commuters of being intimidating, because they travel in groups, and others have alleged inspectors have used standover tactics.
“The investigation is examining the administration of public transport fare enforcement including the issuing of penalty fares and infringement notices complaint and review processes,” the ombudsman said.
“A key element of the investigation will be to assess whether enforcement is fair and equitable.”
The most common complaints involved the lack of discretion shown by inspectors during fare enforcement, the ombudsman said.
In the 2014-15 financial year, the public transport ombudsman received 1,214 complaints about the issue of infringement notices and penalty fares, an increase of 43% on the previous year.
Some commuters have taken the matter into their own hands. A Facebook page established last year invites travellers to share the location of ticket inspectors, and to share their experiences when encountering enforcement officers.
High-profile QC Julian Burnside has assembled a team of lawyers to take on pro bono the cases of commuters who believe they have been unfairly fined. He welcomed the ombudsman’s investigation, describing ticket enforcement officers as being part of a “standover racket”.
“Not only do they tend to be physically threatening, because they work in packs, but in addition they simply disregard people’s reasons and exercise little discretion, and they act like a standover racket,” Burnside said.
“To threaten people to pay $75 now or $223 later is very intimidating, and for most people taking a day off to go to court will cost more than that. So many people will pay up, even if they have attempted to touch-on and have done nothing wrong.”
But Burnside said “almost none” of the cases he had taken on had made it to court, with the cases either dismissed by the courts at the mention stage or penalties withdrawn by Public Transport Victoria.
“Most cases come down to whether the person touched on their myki card to a card-reading machine or not, with the authorised officers rarely there when the person attempted to touch-on,” Burnside said.
“I regularly advise people to ask for CCTV footage that shows them trying to touch-on, as well as service records for the card-reading machine but, in every case, the department of transport has refused to provide it.
“It’s pretty obvious that the prosecution will fail in those cases, which is why those fines often get withdrawn.”
Burnside believes it should be the job of authorised transport officers to make commuters feel safe and comfortable on public transport so that more people are encouraged to use it, rather than to catch people out.
“I really do not like seeing injustice, especially when you have a big, hairy goverment officer acting unjustly towards decent citizens or tourists,” Burnside said. “I think that stinks.”
The Victorian government has been carrying out its own review of the myki system since last year.
According to Public Transport Victoria data from May, the rate of fare compliance is 97.3% on metropolitan trains, 95.3% on trams and 95% on V/Line trains. For the 2014-15 financial year, the revenue impact of fare evasion was estimated at $38.2m.
